After John Terry was stripped of the England captaincy on Friday, it was awarded to Rio Ferdinand. Many associated with Man United have come out to say that Ferdinand was the right choice and they believe he is the right successor.

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said:

"We are pleased for him and it's great for Manchester United to have one of our players captaining our country”
"Over the years we've had Gary (Neville), Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson for 60-odd games or something so we're very proud of that."

Man United captain Gary Neville said:

"It's a great honour to captain your country”
"Rio's done very well for England over a long time and he's vice-captain so he was the natural successor. It's great for the club to have an England captain."

"He's done it in the Champions League final and won it, so it won't faze him in that respect.
"Rio has the respect of the players and that's an important thing so I'm sure he'll be successful.
"Once you're on the pitch you've all got to lead in some way so I don't think it will affect things too much."

Ferdinand’s former team-mate (now Ipswich manager) Roy Keane said:

"Rio will be a good captain, of course he will be”
"He's a top player and has been for a long time and he will bring different qualities (to the captaincy)."

They may have been happy to praise Ferdinand and speak about the England captaincy but the England manager Fabio Capello didn’t want to talk about it.

He said: "I want to speak about this but first I want to speak with Rio and the other players.
"We will speak about the new captain then. Usually I prefer to speak with the players, not the journalists. I understand you but you have to understand me."

When asked when he was going to talk to Ferdinand about it, Capello replied: "March".